Smart garments are generally provided with electronic components (e.g. sensors, actuators, microcontrollers, etc.) integrated in a fabric in order to provide articles of clothing (e.g. T-shirts, shoes, gloves, pants, etc.) used for different purposes, e.g. for monitoring the health of the wearer, for providing anti-theft functions, for monitoring the physical activity of the wearer, etc. Typically, signals coming from garment sensors (i.e. sensors embedded in the smart garment) travel along conductive yarns integrated into the fabric in order to reach one or more processing unit (e.g. a microcontroller) provided on the garment. Processing units are known, e.g. from DE102006039587, which are in the form of a button and are provided with electric contacts for receiving the signals coming from garment sensors. In particular, the processing units are usually firmly fixed to a portion of the garment; the electric contacts are configured to pierce and penetrate into the fabric and to contact the conductive yarns (e.g. by a clamping end) in the fabric.
Processing units may be provided with a sealing coating, covering the portion of garment to which the processing unit is fixed, for preventing infiltration of water, e.g. when the garment is washed. In some cases, the positioning and the coating of said processing units on the garment could be unaesthetic and/or uncomfortable for the wearer. Furthermore, in case of damage to a processing unit (that is the most delicate electronic component in a smart garment), the replacement of the damaged processing unit can be carried out only by a skilled labor.